Reader Rabbit
Encyclopedia
Reader Rabbit is an edutainment
Edutainment
Edutainment is a form of entertainment designed to educate as well as to amuse.-Overview:...

 software franchise created in 1986 by The Learning Company
The Learning Company
The Learning Company is an American educational software company, founded in 1980. It produced a grade-based system similar to Knowledge Adventure's JumpStart series. The products for preschoolers through second graders feature Reader Rabbit, and software for more advanced students features The...

. This series currently makes up the greater part of a franchise of grade-based and subject-based titles, where the games for infancy through second grade
Second grade
In the United States, second grade is a year of primary education. Second grade is the second school year after kindergarten. Students are traditionally 7–8 years old, depending on when their birthday occurs....

 feature Reader Rabbit. The games for third grade
Third grade
In the United States, third grade is a year of primary education. It is the third school year after kindergarten. Students are usually 8 – 9 years old, depending on when their birthday occurs....

 through sixth grade
Sixth grade
Sixth grade is a year of education in the United States and some other nations. The sixth grade is the sixth school year after kindergarten. Students are usually 11 – 12 years old...

 instead feature The ClueFinders
The ClueFinders
The ClueFinders is a series of edutainment software aimed at children aged eight to twelve. The series is produced by The Learning Company as a counterpart to their Reader Rabbit series for older elementary-aged students....

.
The first game in the series taught language arts
Language arts
Traditionally, the primary divisions in the language arts are Literature and Language, where language in this case refers to both linguistics, and specific languages....

, featuring a variety of simple games designed to teach schoolchildren basic reading and spelling skills. Originally, the title character's name was changed to reflect a change in subject, as with Math Rabbit, but it has apparently since been decided to retain the character's original name regardless of the subject area covered by a particular game. "Reader Rabbit" is presumably a play on "Peter Rabbit
Peter Rabbit
Peter Rabbit is a fictional anthropomorphic character in various children's stories by Beatrix Potter. He first appeared in The Tale of Peter Rabbit in 1902, and subsequently in five more books between 1904 and 1912. Spinoff merchandise includes dishes, wallpaper, and dolls...

."

In 2011, the franchise announced that it would be releasing a game for the Nintendo Wii.

Reader Rabbit

Reader Rabbit is the protagonist
Protagonist
A protagonist is the main character of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical narrative, around whom the events of the narrative's plot revolve and with whom the audience is intended to most identify...

 of all the games. He is a grey rabbit with a red
Red
Red is any of a number of similar colors evoked by light consisting predominantly of the longest wavelengths of light discernible by the human eye, in the wavelength range of roughly 630–740 nm. Longer wavelengths than this are called infrared , and cannot be seen by the naked eye...

 and blue
Blue
Blue is a colour, the perception of which is evoked by light having a spectrum dominated by energy with a wavelength of roughly 440–490 nm. It is considered one of the additive primary colours. On the HSV Colour Wheel, the complement of blue is yellow; that is, a colour corresponding to an equal...

 striped sweater he is wearing. In Reader Rabbit Math Adventures Ages 6–9, when the Sealion is wrecked, he has a plan to fix it while Sam the Lion and Penelope the Parrot are on a search for parts. In the games with the younger version of the character, he wears a red shirt and blue pants rather than his trademark red and blue striped sweater. In the 1989-1991 games, he wears a red sweater and blue overalls and in the 1992-1995 games he wears a red sweater. He is also known as Roger Rabbit.

Sam the Lion

Sam (voiced by Pete Shoemaker, (1992-2000), Roger L. Jackson
Roger L. Jackson
Roger Labon Jackson is an American voice actor. He is best known for voicing the killer Ghostface in the Scream films, leaving him to keep an unknown identity to withhold the mystery of Ghostface...

 (2nd Grade) and Terry McGovern
Terry McGovern (actor)
Terence "Terry" McGovern is an American film actor, television broadcaster, radio personality, voice-over specialist, and acting instructor.-Personal life:...

 (2001-present) is one of Reader Rabbit's best friends. He is a lion who likes to go on adventures. He also appears as a cub in Reader Rabbit Math Adventures Ages 6–9 where he was driving a ship in the flashback. He also teams up with Penelope the Parrot in all activities except the one that involves fraction
Fraction (mathematics)
A fraction represents a part of a whole or, more generally, any number of equal parts. When spoken in everyday English, we specify how many parts of a certain size there are, for example, one-half, five-eighths and three-quarters.A common or "vulgar" fraction, such as 1/2, 5/8, 3/4, etc., consists...

s on pizza and the song he sings is Sam's Song. In the games with the younger version of the character he wears a green
Green
Green is a color, the perception of which is evoked by light having a spectrum dominated by energy with a wavelength of roughly 520–570 nanometres. In the subtractive color system, it is not a primary color, but is created out of a mixture of yellow and blue, or yellow and cyan; it is considered...

 shirt.

Matilda the Mouse

Matilda (nicknamed "Mattie" or "Mat") is one of Reader Rabbit's best friends. She is a mouse who likes to do everything and wears a yellow
Yellow
Yellow is the color evoked by light that stimulates both the L and M cone cells of the retina about equally, with no significant stimulation of the S cone cells. Light with a wavelength of 570–590 nm is yellow, as is light with a suitable mixture of red and green...

 shirt,a blue dress with white buttons and a blue ribbon on her tail (only from 1989–1994) . As a main character in Reader Rabbit Kindergarten, she finds some things that Spike is stealing. In Reader Rabbit Toddler, she visits Reader Rabbit and goes into the book where it has so many fun worlds you can select. Mattie makes plenty of jokes! The song she sings is Mat's Song.

Charlie Chipmunk

Charlie is the head councillor in Reader Rabbit Kindergarten and a stage manager in 1st Grade. He wears a red baseball cap and a red and white striped shirt.

Wonder Pony

Wonder Pony is a very elegant pony
Pony
A pony is a small horse . Depending on context, a pony may be a horse that is under an approximate or exact height at the withers, or a small horse with a specific conformation and temperament. There are many different breeds...

. She is blue with a blond
Blond
Blond or blonde or fair-hair is a hair color characterized by low levels of the dark pigment eumelanin. The resultant visible hue depends on various factors, but always has some sort of yellowish color...

 mane and tail. Her first appearance was Let's Start Learning.

Mimi Rabbit

Mimi Rabbit is Reader's younger sister. She rarely appears in any of the games and is apparently four years old. She may not only appear more often in the games with the young version of Reader Rabbit, but may also appear in the DVDs of Reader Rabbit.

Ernest the Train

Ernest is a blue train who appears in Reader Rabbit's Reading 1 and 2.

Buster the Transforming Car

Buster is a red, blue and orange car who made his first appearance in Reader Rabbit's Interactive Reading Journey 2.

Paige the Adventure Manual

Paige is Reader Rabbit's pink manual who made her first appearance in the 2001 versions of Preschool, Kindergarten, 1st Grade and 2nd Grade.

Chester

Reader Rabbit's safe for keeping things in and he made his first appearance in the 2001 versions of Preschool, Kindergarten, 1st Grade and 2nd Grade.

Penelope the Parrot

Penelope is a very bright green parrot featured in Reader Rabbit Math Adventures Ages 6–9. She has been found on an island by Reader Rabbit and Sam the Lion. She likes to fly. As you click on the icons for math activities, she will be your guide. She is also the responsibility of the pizza
Pizza
Pizza is an oven-baked, flat, disc-shaped bread typically topped with a tomato sauce, cheese and various toppings.Originating in Italy, from the Neapolitan cuisine, the dish has become popular in many parts of the world. An establishment that makes and sells pizzas is called a "pizzeria"...

 activity where you can help her put the right ingredients in the dough for making pizza. In the trap activity, you can pick out the money from her hand.

Pirats

The Pirats are pirate rat
Rat
Rats are various medium-sized, long-tailed rodents of the superfamily Muroidea. "True rats" are members of the genus Rattus, the most important of which to humans are the black rat, Rattus rattus, and the brown rat, Rattus norvegicus...

s in Reader Rabbit Math Adventures Ages 6–9. They are "enemies" of Reader Rabbit and friends. There are a few of them. In Reader Rabbit Math Adventures Ages 6–9 there is a little cave thing in the upper right part of the map with a flag (if any pirats are there yet) and when there is a flag, it means a pirat is there. The flags change colors when a new pirat is there. If you go there, each pirat has a song they sing if you click on them. And after the sails are drawn, Sam the Lion & Connor McBrayer M.D. reveal the Pirats and they scurry away for good!!
Flag Colours are
  • Red
    Red
    Red is any of a number of similar colors evoked by light consisting predominantly of the longest wavelengths of light discernible by the human eye, in the wavelength range of roughly 630–740 nm. Longer wavelengths than this are called infrared , and cannot be seen by the naked eye...

    : Captain Ratbeard
  • Orange
    Orange (colour)
    The colour orange occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum at a wavelength of about 585–620 nm, and has a hue of 30° in HSV colour space. It is numerically halfway between red and yellow in a gamma-compressed RGB colour space, the expression of which is the RGB colour wheel. The...

    : Riley
  • Green
    Green
    Green is a color, the perception of which is evoked by light having a spectrum dominated by energy with a wavelength of roughly 520–570 nanometres. In the subtractive color system, it is not a primary color, but is created out of a mixture of yellow and blue, or yellow and cyan; it is considered...

    : Pearl
  • White
    White
    White is a color, the perception of which is evoked by light that stimulates all three types of color sensitive cone cells in the human eye in nearly equal amounts and with high brightness compared to the surroundings. A white visual stimulation will be void of hue and grayness.White light can be...

    : Cheester
  • Yellow
    Yellow
    Yellow is the color evoked by light that stimulates both the L and M cone cells of the retina about equally, with no significant stimulation of the S cone cells. Light with a wavelength of 570–590 nm is yellow, as is light with a suitable mixture of red and green...

    : Vermina


When Reader and Sam find themselves beached on a deserted island, the Pirats catch on to their presence and Ratbeard is quick to assume that they showed up to steal their precious cheese. He becomes determined to stop them even though they don't actually meet face-to-face throughout their time on the island. Ratbeard gets the idea to launch a massive water balloon at the duo when they try to flee the island on their new ship, in the hopes of sinking them. Even after it is pointed out that Reader and Sam never stole their cheese, Ratbeard goes forth with his plan anyway. When Sam and Reader, along with Penelope flee the island, the Pirats launch the water balloon from their ship via catapult. Unfortunately, the weight of the balloon sinks their ship, and causes a tidal wave that sends Reader Rabbit and his friends all the way back home. The Pirats are forced to swim back to shore, with Ratbeard, furious at his defeat, swearing revenge on Reader and his friends. However, the gang never ran into the Pirats again.

Captain Ratbeard (voiced by Charles Martinet
Charles Martinet
Charles Martinet is an American actor and voice actor, best known for providing the voice of Mario, the titular character in Nintendo's flagship video game franchise. He has held this role since 1994, longer than any other actor. He also voices Luigi, Wario, Waluigi, Toadsworth, and a select few...

) is the leader of the Pirats and the nastiest member of the group. He wears a hat, boots, a coat, and a belt with a sword attached to it. Due to his name, he has a red beard with a mustache
Moustache
A moustache is facial hair grown on the outer surface of the upper lip. It may or may not be accompanied by a type of beard, a facial hair style grown and cropped to cover most of the lower half of the face.-Etymology:...

. He has been found by Sam the Lion in the beach version of the sail-drawing activity and is the first Pirat to be part of the time activity. The song he sings is "Captain Ratbeard's Song."

Pearl (voiced by Susan Parks) is a fat female Pirat who wears a fuchsia dress and a short yellow curly wig. She wants to be rough and tough in her way. She has been found by Sam the Lion in the cavern version of the sail-drawing activity and is the third Pirat to be part of the time activity. The song she sings is "Rough And Tough As Me."

Vermina (voiced by Brett Abramson (1997-2001) and Erin Roush (2001-present)) is a thin female Pirat who wears a light blue shirt with a rope-like belt, dark blue pants and a long brown straight wig. She is the kindest Pirat who has a beautiful voice. She has been found by Sam the Lion in the beach and jungle versions of the sail-drawing activity and Connor McBrayer M.D. in Wordville Soup and is the first Pirat to sit by the fire in the cave. The song she sings is "This Is A Life For Me". In this song, she dreams of having a wonderful life for herself. (P.S. she is the ONLY nice one)

Cheester (voiced by Roger L. Jackson
Roger L. Jackson
Roger Labon Jackson is an American voice actor. He is best known for voicing the killer Ghostface in the Scream films, leaving him to keep an unknown identity to withhold the mystery of Ghostface...

) is a fat male Pirat who wears a shirt with sky blue and white stripes on, dark blue pants and a hunk of cheese on his head. His desire may be counting a lot of treasures he sees. He has been found by Sam the Lion in the jungle version of the sail-drawing activity and is the second Pirat to be part of the time activity. The song he sings is "Cheester's Song".

Riley (voiced by Derek Sorrentino) is a thin male Pirat who wears a shirt with light orange and white stripes on and dark orange pants. He has a cockney accent. He has been found by Sam the Lion in the cavern version of the sail-drawing activity. The song he sings is "Riley's Song".

The Performing Hamsters

These hamsters first appeared in Learn to Read.

Nellie (voiced by Irene Trapp) is a gray hamster, and the song she sings is Nellie's Song.

Calhoun (voiced by Terry McGovern (actor)
Terry McGovern (actor)
Terence "Terry" McGovern is an American film actor, television broadcaster, radio personality, voice-over specialist, and acting instructor.-Personal life:...

) is a brownish red hamster, and the song he sings is Calhoun's Song.

Lefty (voiced by Marina Cashmark) is a brown hamster, and the song he sings is Lefty's Song.

Milton(voiced by Derek Sorentino) is an orangy red hamster, and the song he sings is Milton's Song.

Mitt the Monkey

Mitt is a monkey who is very talkative. He is featured in Reader Rabbit's Preschool,Reader Rabbit Personalized Reading Ages 4–6 and Reader Rabbit Personalized Reading Ages 6–9.

Ben the Ant

Ben is the leader of ant band and he makes his first appearance in Reader Rabbit's Interactive Reading Jorney 1.

Tally the Counting Cat

Tally is a good mathmetician and she appears in Reader Rabbit's Preschool. and Interactive Math Journey For Grades 1-3. She is also the math magician.

Nanny Toucanny

Nanny (nicknamed "Nan") made her first appearance in Reader Rabbit's Interactive Reading Journey 1.

Wheel Bear

The Wheel Bear is a brown bear who wears a T-shirt and sits on a wheelchair. He is featured in Reader Rabbit Personalized Reading Ages 6–9 and seen in books 5 and 6.

Sid

Sid is a yellow Horse
Horse
The horse is one of two extant subspecies of Equus ferus, or the wild horse. It is a single-hooved mammal belonging to the taxonomic family Equidae. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature into the large, single-toed animal of today...

 with a brown
Brown
Brown is a color term, denoting a range of composite colors produced by a mixture of orange, red, rose, or yellow with black or gray. The term is from Old English brún, in origin for any dusky or dark shade of color....

 mane and tail and appears in the Interactive Reading Journeys

Chef Pierre

Chef Pierre is featured in Reader Rabbit Kindergarten. He is a grey and black raccoon that wears a white apron and a white chef hat. He has a French accent.

Artist Pierre

Artist Pierre is featured in Reader Rabbit 1st Grade. and Thinking Adventures Ages 4-6. He is a grey and black racoon who wears a black or red beret AND HAS A French Accent.
Baby Bear

Baby Bear is in Reader Rabbit Kindergarten and she is a bear cub. Her father always sleeps in his bed and when the first two balloons have been brought in, he mistakes them for "baboons".

Spike the Porcupine

Spike is a porcupine and is featured on Reader Rabbit Kindergarten. He wears a red baseball cap that is usually backwards and a pair of red and white sneakers. In Reader Rabbits Kindergarten, he takes an item from all the characters and the song he sings is Spike's Song.

Spike is voiced by Roger L. Jackson
Roger L. Jackson
Roger Labon Jackson is an American voice actor. He is best known for voicing the killer Ghostface in the Scream films, leaving him to keep an unknown identity to withhold the mystery of Ghostface...

 of Scream.

Lenny Loudspeaker

Lenny Loudspeaker is a loudspeaker that announces things to the campers in Reader Rabbits Kindergarten. In addition, if the player clicks on him he will give offbeat facts about nature. He is also fond of cracking jokes, often in the form of puns.

Babs the Beaver

Babs is featured in Reader Rabbit Kindergarten. She is a brown beaver with buck teeth. She wears blue overalls with a yellow construction hat. She has a southern accent.

Holey Mole

Holey Mole was featured in a 1997 Reader Rabbit Kindergarten game. He works in a mine tunnel, and is depicted as a mole in a construction worker-type outfit.

Sylvia Skunk

Sylvia Skunk was also featured in the 1997 Reader Rabbit Kindergarten game. She wears a yellow sleeveless shirt and green shorts and has a short ponytail. In a 2001 Reader Rabbit Preschool game, she appeared as the main singer for 7 sing-alongs.

Go-Go Gophers

The Go-Go Gophers were also featured in the 1997 Reader Rabbit Kindergarten game. They were a couple of gophers who wore bow tie
Bow tie
The bow tie is a type of men's necktie. It consists of a ribbon of fabric tied around the collar in a symmetrical manner such that the two opposite ends form loops. Ready-tied bow ties are available, in which the distinctive bow is sewn into shape and the band around the neck incorporates a clip....

s.

Connor

Connor is a human that used to be Wordville's enemy but is now
their friend because they helped get the sound back on his
computer. He wants to be an adult in his own way. The song he sings is "This Is A Life For Me & Connor" In this song, he steals Vermina's life and transforms it into their life. (P.S. he loves Vermina)

Songs

  • Captain Ratbeard's Song
  • This Is A Life For Me
  • Baby Basket Bingo
  • Cheester's Song
  • Rough And Tough As Me
  • Riley's Song
  • This Is A Life For Me & Connor
  • Spike's Song
  • Sam's Song
  • Mat's Song

Products in the franchise

1986
  • Reader Rabbit

  • Math Rabbit


1987
  • Get Ready to Learn


1988
  • Get Ready For Reading


1989
  • Reader Rabbit 1


1990
  • Reader Rabbit 2


1991
  • Reader Rabbit 3

  • Ready for Letters


1992
  • Reading Development Library 1


1993
  • Reading Development Library 2

  • Interactive Reading Journey 1


1994
  • Reading Development Library 3

  • Interactive Reading Journey 2

  • Learn to Read CD Sampler


1995
  • Reading Development Library 4

  • Lets Start Learning


1996
  • Learn to Read


1997
  • Toddler

  • Preschool

  • Kindergarten


1998
  • 1st Grade

  • 2nd Grade

  • Interactive Reading Journey For Grades K-1

  • Interactive Reading Journey For Grades 1-2

  • Interactive Math Journey For Grades 1-3

  • Reading 1

  • Reading 2

  • Math 1

  • Math 2


1999
  • Playtime for Baby

  • Reading Ages 4-6

  • Math Ages 4-6

  • Phonics Ages 4-6

  • Complete Learn to Read System

  • Thinking Adventures Ages 4-6

  • Reading Ages 6-9

  • Math Ages 6-9

  • Phonics Ages 6-9

  • Thinking Adventures Ages 6-9

2011
  • Reader Rabbit & Friends

Coming Soon To TVO, Radio Canada, TFO, Knowledge, France 5, Disney Junior, Studio 100, The Magic Store, The Learning Company Entertainment, Discovery kids espanol & brazil
(Also, it will be set for Cbeebies)

External links

  • Reader Rabbit Software and Workbooks - The Learning Company
    The Learning Company
    The Learning Company is an American educational software company, founded in 1980. It produced a grade-based system similar to Knowledge Adventure's JumpStart series. The products for preschoolers through second graders feature Reader Rabbit, and software for more advanced students features The...

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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